


Sweet Treats

by Wallflower (bonniesgoldengirl)



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Baking, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hallowe'en, Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, modern!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21607969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonniesgoldengirl/pseuds/Wallflower
Summary: You get roped into helping the Shelby women bake treats for the children. Unbeknownst to you, however, the girls all know about your crush on Polly, and what was supposed to be you and all of them helping out turns into you and Polly left alone. (Modern!AU)
Relationships: Polly Gray/Gender Neutral Reader, Polly Gray/Original Character(s), Polly Gray/Reader, Polly Gray/You
Kudos: 25





	Sweet Treats

**Author's Note:**

> I know very little about baking, so this isn't going to be particularly great. Also, I mention Ruby in this, even though Grace is alive, so it's up to you guys how you want them to fit in this whole situation.  
> You can also find this story on my tumblr: bonniesgoldengirl  
> DO NOT REPOST MY WORK

"What do you mean you're not coming?!"

"I'm sorry Y/N, but I'm stuck at work." Lizzie's voice sounds anything but apologetic through the phone. "Tommy's just thrown more files at me. I doubt I'll make it in time."

You let out an exasperated sigh at her excuse. You know she's been trying to get out of helping the Shelby women bake goodies for their kids ever since she figured out that you fancy Polly last week. You made her promise not to tell anyone, especially the matriarch herself, but ever since then she has done everything to get the two of you alone together. Now, it seems she has succeeded in taking herself out of the equation. At least Esme, Linda, Grace and Ada will still be there.

"Alright Liz, that's fine," you concede with an eye roll, "I'll see you later tonight." And with that, you hang up the phone. You use your phone to check the time and your eyes nearly bulge out of your head. It's 3:35, and you were supposed to be at the betting shop at 3. You're thankful that you only live five minutes away as you grab the eggs, icing and butter you said you would bring from the fridge. You quickly put on your shoes and throw on a coat in an attempt to fight the brisk Autumn wind that sweeps through Small Heath. It does little to provide you warmth, you realise as you leave your house. You jog down the street and to the door that leads to the house part of the betting shop, where the Shelby's used to live. Polly decided that this was the best place to make treats, as the kids would all be trick or treating in Small Heath.

You knock twice on the door before entering, to announce your presence. Once inside, you expect to see the remaining five women bustling around the kitchen wearing oven mitts and carrying hot trays. Instead you find Polly Gray furiously cracking eggs on the side of a bowl, muttering to herself and practically shaking with anger. At the sound of you entering she whirls around with a frightening glare that makes you freeze.

"What time do you call this?!" She snaps.

"Sorry Poll, I lost track of time," you admit, "I was on the phone to Lizzie."

"And where is she?"

You're hesitant to reply.

"Well?" She asks.

"...She's stuck at work." You inform her, "Tommy keeps giving her more things to do, and-"

"Oh, for God's sake!" She cries out, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.

You flinch a little at her reaction. Pissing off Polly Gray never ends well.

"Where are the rest of them?" You ask tentatively. You regret it immediately as her eyes flash with more fury.

"Esme's having a hard time getting the children ready, Ada has to fix Karl's costume, Linda's car won't start, and Grace is stuck in a meeting about the institute." She explains in a huff. "So now it's just us." 

You're in shock at the excuses, and you have a sneaking suspicion that Lizzie has something to do with this. You swear you're going to kill her when you see her later.

"What about asking the boys for help?" Yet again you regret opening your mouth, as Polly lets out an incredulous laugh, her eyes lighting up slightly at your stupid question. 

"The boys?" She laughs. "You think the boys will help?"

You shrug your shoulders meekly and bite your lip, preparing for her to rip into you.

"Tommy, John and Arthur are working, and Finn and Michael are on the piss." She tells you. You nod. Really you should've seen that one coming.

In an attempt to get on her good side again, you hold up the carton of eggs, the icing, and the stick of butter to show her that even though you showed up late, you're not empty handed. She sizes up the ingredients and gives you a little nod, perhaps in appreciation. She tosses you an apron that you just about catch and turns back to her mixing bowl.

"Right," she starts, "because no one else turned up, we have less supplies. So you grab another mixing bowl and start making cookies. I'll handle the cupcakes. Hopefully we'll have enough for everyone."

"I'm sure we will." You assure her as you tie the strings of the apron behind your back. She scoffs at your reply.

"Oh, please. We have John's six kids, Charlie, Karl and Ruby. Plus, Arthur, John, Finn and Isaiah will try and take some later, and Ada's pregnant, so I can't say no to her." You nod along, realising that you should probably just stop talking altogether. You let out an inaudible sigh as you get a mixing bowl and a whisk from the cupboard. Polly notices your slow pace and snaps at you.

"Hurry up, those kids will be here soon and others will start knocking." You quicken your pace and start cracking eggs and adding ingredients into the bowl, following the directions from the recipe she gave you.

"The kids start knocking earlier and earlier each year." You hear her mutter to herself as she shakes her head and sighs. You let out a light chuckle and she catches your eye and shoots you a cheeky smile that gets your heart racing.

It's times like this that reminds you why you adore Polly Gray. Sure, she can be harsh and short tempered, but underneath it all she's kind and funny and loving. She truly cares about the people in her life. You can only hope she cares about you half as much as you care about her.

You tear your eyes away from hers to try and focus on the task at hand, instead of watching her start putting the mixture into the tray. You still need to mix the butter, eggs, caster sugar, baking powder and flour together before you can put it on the tray, so you mix them as fast as you can. Once that's done, you spread the cookie dough onto a flat tray. 

Out of nowhere, Hallowe'en themed cookie cutters are dropped onto the counter beside. You look up at Polly to see that she has already put her tray in the oven and has pulled out some freshly bought apples.

"Linda was supposed to bring ingredients to make caramel, so we could make caramel apples, but since she can't come I think we should just put some coins in the apples and have all the kids go bobbing for them."

You agree with a smile and pull some coins from your pocket and hand them to her. Turning back to the cookie dough on the tray, you grab a cookie cutter shaped like a pumpkin and press it down into the top left corner of the dough, making the perfect outline of a pumpkin. You repeat this multiple times with different Hallowe'en shapes, until you've made each bit into an unbaked cookie. You then pick up the tray and put it into the oven just as Polly takes out the cupcakes and leaves them to cool down. You breath a sigh of relief at the conclusion of the hardest part of the task. Now all you have to do is wait until they're done and add icing.

In the meantime, you help Polly finish putting coins into the apples and place them in a tub of water for the kids to dunk their heads into later. You then watch as Polly grabs the bottles of orange and black icing and begins to squirt them onto the cooled down cupcakes, making one orange and then one black, continuing this pattern until each cupcake has a layer of icing on top of it. You're sure Grace was supposed to make icing so that there would be different kinds to choose from, but Polly manages to make shop bought icing work.

Not long after she finishes, you hear the timer you forget to set give a little ding, and you smile at Polly apologetically. In return, she rolls her eyes with a smile of her own. You put on a pair of oven gloves and pull out your tray of cookies, leaving them to cool for a few minutes. While they're cooling, you gather the orange, black and white icing bottles to prepare for your next job. Now that she's finished her own baking, Polly takes the black bottle from your hand and gets ready to help you finish off the last task. After a few minutes of waiting, the cookies are finally cooled down enough to put icing on them, so you begin trying to make them look appetising. That's easier said than done, you discover, as the art of adding icing to cookies proves to be more difficult than you previously thought. Most of the cookies you decorate end up with icing dripping down the sides, instead of just on the top. Polly's however, look much more like they're supposed to. While she's no da Vinci, she certainly makes the cookies look more appealing than yours do. 

When she catches you looking, she shoots you another sweet smile.

"Years of practice." She tells you. "I've had nephews and a niece, and now I have grand nephews and grand nieces." 

Polly even finishes before you do, and then watches you decorate the last two with a gentle smile on her face that makes you feel at ease and nervous at the same time. God this woman can really get to you.

The cookies and cupcakes are put on plates just as you hear children knocking on people's houses. As you take start cleaning up the kitchen, you feel a gentle hand land on your shoulder. You turn to face Polly with a curious gaze.

"Thank you for showing up." She says, and then pulls you into a hug. Your arms wrap themselves around her shoulders in return.

"No problem, Poll," you say, "I'm always happy to help you." 

She pulls back, but keeps her arms around your waist, still smiling at you. You stare into each other's eyes for a moment, and then one of you is leaning in, or maybe it's both of you. When your lips meet you realise you don't care who initiated it, because her lips are soft and gentle and feel like they belong against yours. Your fingers begin to tangle themselves within her curly hair, as hers pull you against her body.

The kiss lasts only moments, then children are running up to the door, and Esme's voice rings throughout the betting shop. The two of you quickly separate and Polly turns towards the kitchen door just as it's about to open. The room is quickly filled with Shelby's, as Polly's nephews arrive, along with their wives, and Ada shows up with Karl. Looking around at the family who have no idea what just transpired in this very kitchen, only one thought comes to mind:

You're going to hug Lizzie when she arrives.


End file.
